Closure To A Productive Week

You can't go wrong with wax begonias (Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum) as seen in this shot today. This is one of the Varsity series with pink flowers and bronze foliage. We mass plant them 9" apart in huge drifts around the garden. They can take sun or shade but really prefer part sun. With a little fertilizer every three weeks, we get a nice carpet of non-stop flower power until frost. We planted another 5,000 or so annuals today with help from Art, Shirley, Kay, Barb, Dr. Yahr, Marv, Janice and Marianne. Terry planted some perennials and did a lot of fertilizing. Despite possible rain this weekend, we had to water many areas which seems contrary considering how damp it has been lately. However, consider that these shallow planted annuals are in the soil zone (top) that dries out first so we're running sprinklers to water that top layer (above saturated soil). That's the nature of the business as our flood waters hopefully have peaked now. We'll see! About 15% of the garden is under water right now.

Marianne has been organizing our annual vinca (Catharanthus roseus) collection this past week and was told we'd be planting it Monday. Well, we did it today and it looks great. Marianne and Janice spaced out all 170 or so varieties and with the help of Art and Kay, planted eight of each variety for this display. These plants are in what are termed our "demonstration squiggles". These three, large, sinuous beds have been home to many collections and this might be one of our more exciting to date. A collection of this scope starts the previous November with the scouring of seed catalogs from around the world to find as many varieties as possible. Ball Seed Company donated some brand new varieties as well. We then have a local grower start the seeds while we prepare labels and interpretation. The process is fairly involved but once they're in the ground, they'll do fine. Also called Madagascar periwinkle, this annual has a long history as an herbal medication (too long to mention here) and Western medicine is embracing research regarding the potential of this plant in the treatment of many illnesses and disorders. Do a little research and you'll find that not only is this a top notch bedding plant for sunny locations, it has proven potential in both Eastern and Western medicinal approaches. This collection should peak in early August.
Larry planted all of our bananas this week as well. To the left is the red Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii') from Ethiopia. We grow it for the foliage as it will rarely form fruit (not tasty) for us; although it has done so inside from time to time when we're storing it over the winter. Regardless, in our hot WI summers with adequate water and fertilizer, we can get these to grow another 5-7 feet in additional height. Remember that these are not woody plants at all and are 90% water. New growth continues to spiral out of the center and we trim the lower leaves when they get "ratty" (optional). The curve ball is that these are only out for four months of the year here in WI and we have to find space for our 20+ bananas for that remaining eight months. We're looking forward to some impressive growth but still need the soil to keep heating up!

For a hardy yet tropical look, check out this variegated Southern catalpa (Catalpa bignoniodies 'Variegata) that I photographed today. The leaves are mostly yellow with green mottling. The bummer is that the leaves are totally green by mid summer. Catalpas are blooming around town with their huge, orchid like flower clusters. We like varieties with interesting foliage like this one and the golden variety. The close-up is of wet leaves as I had to avoid a sprinkler to get the shot. Janice, Larry, Jerry and Bill will lead the Saturday crew (planting) tomorrow. We'll see if I can stay away...